Obama campaign song a viral video hit

Obama campaign song a viral video hit

LOS ANGELES - In the long history of political campaign theme songs, there has never been one quite like "Yes We Can," starring Barack Obama and a host of A-list celebrities

For one thing, it's more than a song — it's a viral video hit with almost 1.9 million views on YouTube since being posted last Friday.

There's also the fact that the Obama campaign did not commission the song — the rapper, songwriter and producer will.i.am, frontman for the Black Eyed Peas, says he was inspired to create it while watching Obama's speech after his second-place finish to Sen. Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary.

"It was as if he was talking to me," will.i.am told The Associated Press on Tuesday night as Obama and Clinton contended for the Democratic presidential nomination. "It was as if he was talking to and defending everything that made me who I am. I took that speech, and I wanted everyone else to be inspired by that speech as I was."

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With the recent transformation in the way music is consumed and shared, perhaps the Obama song marks a new era for the campaign song. (Will.i.am's creation is more than a few steps ahead of the racy, half-serious "Obama Girl" video that drew millions of views last summer.)

"The Internet and technology empowers people," will.i.am said, "and the 'Yes We Can' song is proof that they don't need a big record company or a big movie company ... to go out and captivate people's attention."

I enjoyed this article because I think it is very interesting to see how people are using there resources to get their message across. This too me is a good way of using technology and is a good way to get younger votes, which is what is attracted to Obama as it is.